A Weekend Without

With the WPBT event going on in the sin city the weekend chat fest was a little slow. Never the less, on-line poker continued to be played regardless of the missing bloggers.

JJ and hooked up and played the midnight madness Friday while I was playing a HORSE MTT on FT. We both made nice runs in the MM with JJ getting well into it before a huge suck-out crippled him and sent him to the rail. He was on his game and had a really nice stack but it wasn’t to be for him. I wasn’t very disappointed about getting knocked out of the MM because I was making a run in the HORSE tourney. I held the chip lead from about 50 players left and stayed in the top 5 until about 20 left when I missed all my draws in the Omaha h/l portion of the tourney. I held AKQJ double suited and saw a flop of 10, 9, 5. I held the nut flush draw, the nut straight draw and many over cards so I pushed on the only guy left in the hand. He came back at me and we eventually got all are money in the middle. Now if I count my outs I have any club (9) any 8 (3) any jack (3) any queen (2) and any king (3). That’s 20 outs twice. He held 94AA. Now if my math is correct I’m a huge favorite here even though I’m behind on the board. Anyway, I get no help and I’m back to the bottom half of the field. I held on and chipped up some when I got AKJ in stud suited. I hit the Q on 4th street and then the 4th spade on 5th street and eventually lose to a pair of 2’s when nothing comes in. I don’t have a problem with how I played either of these hands but did I play them right. I think the Omaha hand played it self but how about the stud hand. I was trying to get in a position to win and had a great draw compared to my opponents board who didn’t show much of anything. Anyway, I ended up in 13th but missed the final table again.

Saturday night I plat the MM again and made a nice run and was sitting with average chips with about 160 players left. I got KQ in late position and made a 4x raise. The button pushes me all-in. The question I have is that I was getting 2.5 to 1 to call with that hand. I’m only afraid of AK, AQ, and the big three pocket pairs. Should I make this call. It was a newer table so I didn’t have a great read so I folded. SLB suggested I play the “TV hand” but I wasn’t sure. I still hade some chip equity with the fold but eventually got knocked out some where in the 150 range when my opponents 3 outer hit. What do you think?

Being an idiot I didn’t stick with my plan to raise my bankroll by $250 before playing tourneys again. I have no further comment on that.

Good Luck Everyone

With the WPBT event ready to start I would like to wish each of my blogging brethren good luck on the felt this weekend.

I’ve made a decision that I probably won’t keep, to stay away from tournaments until I can increase my bankroll by $250. It’s a decision based on focus and goal setting that was missing during my down turn. Setting this goal and achieving it will allow me to get back much of what I dropped and help me regain the focus I lacked. Looking back, I realize that even though I ran badly for a while I started to chase loses instead of grinding back to maintain my bankroll level. I’m not a huge winner at Full Tilt t all. In fact my ROI is terrible there. It is positive but not at the level I’d like. Overall, on all sites I’m at 38% so I know from history I should be able to achieve my goal in about a week of limited play. If I do I will reevaluate and decide if I should continue for an additional $250 of to take some more shots at some bigger tourneys. Realistically, I can easily make $100 a week or $5200 a year if I stay with the same games but that’s really a grind. Playing these low level SNGs can be tough when you do them over and over again.

I guess I need to be more structured in my approach. I know I have the ability to take down a big tourney but continuing to take shots at bigger buy-ins can have a negative impact on the bankroll unless you’re hitting some final tables.

Ever Been to a Waffle House

I got through my ISO audit without any non-conformances. You have no idea how relieved I am at this since my company has never had one in the past.

I played a few limit SNGs last night ending up the night in the positive. I was disappointed in my results in a $10 SNG since I had my opponent down to 1800 in chips and couldn’t put her away. A double up and then missing on few flops gave her about 5000 chips when I flop an OESD and the second nut flush draw. I pushed her hard and gave up a lot of chips when I missed both draws to her small pocket pair. I eventually went in with a marginal hand and caught a piece that wasn’t big enough and got knocked out.

These limit tourneys are actually faster then many of the no limit tourneys that I’ve played. I’m also seeing that good decision making will pay you off in the long run. You have to make more reads on your opponent and push on those willing to fold in either game and take advantage of the smaller stacks that are trying to stay alive as the blinds increase. I’ve noticed that people are just as willing to fold as the bubble nears in limit and let you steal the blinds. Now these are limit SNGs but the strategy is quite similar. A suckout doesn’t hurt nearly as bad and playing strange hands doesn’t cost you as much.

I also watched and chatted with this guy while he played a 2 table SNG.

We talked about SNG strategy and some of his donkeyness as he hit runner runner for a flush.

Feeling Better

Nothing much today other then I lasted deep into a $5+.50 on FT the other night. I was a nice run that saw may advantages hold up. I could have lasted longer except for the push I made with 77 from middle position after UTG mad a small raise. He had a large stack and was buying lots of pots and I wanted to push him off his hand. The button called my all-in and UTG folded. I had the right read but on UTG guy but the button called with 88 and I didn’t improve. I had chip equity at the time and could have lasted into the top 15 or so but I wanted to be in a position to win. A double up would have put me above average in chips and a good shot to the final table. Oh well.

I was going to make an attempt to play more limit hold’em but made an amendment to the decision. After talking with worldpoker05 and surf, I am taking the best of both worlds and playing limit SNGs. With limit I will not lose all my chip when I get sucked out on and determine if I’m truly making the right reads on players. Right now I’m going to play any limit SNG as in LH, O h/l, HORSE or Razz. I’m going to stay at the 5 and 10 dollar level for now until I get a better feel for the results. So far I’ve played 7 of these and cashed in 6 with 5 wins and a 2nd. The players are week and will to give their money so I’ll give it a try.

The Legs of the Horse are Steady

I missed the start of the Mookie last night but did watch it and the second chance tourney until virtual conclusion. It was fun watching but I would rather have been playing.

So instead of just sitting there while railing the tourneys I played a couple of SNGs. The first was un eventful in that I didn’t do much and got knocked out with pocket 10’s vs AJ near the bubble. I was one of three short stacks vs 2 big stacks and pushed to by the blinds. No big deal.

The second SNG went much better as I chipped up early before giving much of my stack to a lose caller. I raised with KJ suited from middle and got called by the big blind. The flop was Qxx. I made a 2/3 pot continuation bet and the BB calls. The turn is x and I take another stab of 2/3 only to be called by the BB. At this point I know I’m behind and will fold to any bet. The river is x and we both check. BB flips over Q7 and takes the pot. I question the player passive method of playing this hand but cannot question her results. Anyway, I doubled up a little later when I flop trips and then knock out another when I get another big pocket pair. When we get down to 5 players things got slow. Nobody wanted to give up position so blind stealing was the name of the game and I continued to chip up. We eventually got down to three some time into the second hour. I eventually knocked out the Q7 player and got heads up with a passive heads up player. I pushed him around and took a nice chip lead until I flopped top 2 pair and he flopped trips. From the short stack I moved back to almost even until I ran into his pocket pair when I tried a re-steal with AK. I didn’t improve and take second place. It was a good game and I played the game that I know I can play. I’ll play a few more of these before I move back up to the more interesting levels.

I think that I’ve figured out the cause of my resent failures. I withdrew some of my bankroll from FT and put it in Neteller. The curse of the withdraw showed it’s ugly head and made me shrink in fear. I have remedied the situation and expect a complete return to normalcy.

Work has been a bear since my return from Japan. I have all the thing that I learned from the trip and others as well to put into place. I also have an impending ISO 9000 external audit that will take place next Tuesday. All together I have no time to complete any of the things I need to get done but have to do them anyway. I know, cry me a river.

Back on the Horse

I jumped back on the horse last night, kind of. I played a $3 turbo MTT and an SNG to try and get it going again. The SNG didn’t go well in that I bubbled but I play my game with minimal fear. The turbo went well in that I played my strong hands aggressively and didn’t back off when I smelled weakness. The best part of the night was coming over the top of 5 limpers a couple of times only to see them lay their hands down. A player at the table mad a comment about this move and I responded that I had only played 8 hands(out of 80) to that point and that if he thought I was stealing to go ahead and call. I was well above average as the bubble approached but the blind were getting big and my hands were on the ugly side. After the bubble broke I was a little below average when I looked at pocket 10s. I pushed from early position since a 3x raise would have all but pot committed and got called by queens and AK. No luck for me and I’m done. I’m not upset with this as these turbo require a more aggressive style and was willing to flip a coin to double my stack.

I also played some .25\.50 full ring limit hold’em. I haven’t sat at one of these tables in a long time, so with the encouragement of surflexus I hit it for about 30 minutes ending up about +$5. small change but I need the confidence right now.

I also railed surf as he ran to 26th place in the 25k on ft. He had a great run of cards at the right times and laid down a few good hands. Good job man. Probably no Mookie tonight but we shall see.

Wow It's Going Bad

I'm not crying, well I guess I am but luck was not my friend over the weekend. I got knocked out of 14 tournaments when my opponent had 6 outs or less on the river. Now I understand that this will happen but I would rather make a bad decision and get knocked out of a few of these then be so far ahead in each of these only to get kicked in the junk. I cashed in three of these events but didn't go deep enough to make a contribution really. The killer was getting knocked out of the 25K on FT when my pocket kings see a flop of K23. My opponent pushes and I call and see his JT off suit. AQ on the turn and river give him the straight and knocks me out. winning that hand would have put me into the top 10 with 150 players left. I would give you a dollar because of the bad beat story but I don't have enough left in the bankroll. Anyway, I think I may take another day or two off before I get back on the horse so that my stressed out mind can refresh.

Worldpoker05, my old boss went to Vegas a week or so a go and played a tourney a Ceaser's. He bubbled in 6th when the short stack went on a tear and doubled up 4 out of 5 hands in a row. When he got to the final table he was one of the chip leaders but lost two pots when his opponent hit bottom pair. Tough breakes.

Good luck in the Mookie on Wednesday but I don't think I'll be playing as I want to re-evaluate mu game to see if I was the cause of some of my down-turn. And since the Mookie is full of good players I think that it wouldn't be a good thing to invest at this time.

Japan

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

1600 players at the 25,000 on FT

I think that the grim reaper has taken hold of me with his icy touch. Death would be welcome compared to how I feel today. Life will move on.

I played the 25,000 on FT last night and made a nice run considering the land mines that were in place. 1600 plus players with a prize pool of 40,000 is always nice. Anyway, I stayed tight and doubled up with flopped trips before catching AK suited in middle position. UTG calls and I make a 4x raise with the button calling. UTG pushes for 800 more and I call, button folds. He flips over pocket kings. I still have a nice stack but I wanted to bust him for slow playing kings from UTG. He eventually gave all my chips to other players. So I chip back up some when an early position player makes a min raise. I look down at J9 suited in the BB and call. The flop is J high and I’m pretty sure it’s good here. The early position player is short stacked so I check to him hoping he bets and he does. I come over the top but not enough to put him all in hoping he’ll push them in and he does. I call and he shows AK. King on the river and I’m back down to 2200 chips. I really like this play because I’m going to win about 75% of he time but it wasn’t to be. I stayed afloat until there were around 450 players left. 261 were getting paid so I needed chips. A large stack raised from middle position and I push with KJ suited hoping he was stealing or on a pocket pair. His AJ was good and I’m done. The morale to this story for me is that suited cards sucked last night. A good run but I still could have waited a little longer to make a move.

I might play the Mookie tonight but I’m not sure. Being sick and playing poker don’t always go together well so we will see.

An Ever Changing Game

I watched the FTOPS main event for much of the evening last night and watched Lucko and Poker Gnome make a good run by making it into the money. Iak did well but was eliminated about 300 spots from the cash. The interesting thing I note from the event was the amount of post flop play. There wasn’t any for the most part as it was raise and fold action with many re-steals happening. There was much bad play from many of the players and some very good play from some. It was really a question of guts at the end as short stack tried to stay alive and big stacks played the bully as the final table got near. When the bubble finally burst I figured there would be a couple of quick eliminations coming from the short stacks but to my surprise the field evened out and the players jockeyed for position. This was the point that I could no longer stay awake so I went to bed. I have no idea how it ended.

I looked back on my run from Saturday night and realized I did have some luck along the way. I pushed with JJ and got called by AK. The flop showed a K but a J on the river kept me alive. This was short of the money but propelled me to a higher level. I also had a number of coin flips go my way at critical times against smaller stacks. These instances help the chip stack grow and keep you advancing toward the end.

In addition to the 4th place finish, I cashed in 3 other MTTs along the way. In each case I made lay downs of strong hands based on the betting patterns I faced. I’ve really begun to understand that TPTK isn’t always good. I’ve also made some adjustments to my game that includes giving value to my opponent in situations that may induce a call. This sets up the same play when I’ve missed the flop and turn but feel I can take it on the river. Many players will lay down a good hand if you give them a really good value late in a hand after calling there earlier bets. They smell a trap and get away from the hand. I’m finding this useful later in the tourneys when they are trying to gain a bigger payday by lasting longer. The key is having a good read on the player.

That’s it for now other then I’ve had 11 hours of sleep since 9 pm last Thursday. Jet lag is killing and I have meeting each of the next two nights. I will be playing the Mookie on Wednesday though.